A Book Review by Daniel R. Murphy

Title and Author: The Oz Principle by Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman   

Synopsis of Content:    

Accountability is commonly one of several essential elements of what is considered necessary for organizational or individual success. The authors here take this one element and develop it fully. Their main point is that you cannot achieve much of anything without accountability. The Oz Principle, in a nutshell, is “a personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results – to See It, Own It, Solve It and Do It.”  

The authors us the well known story of the Wizard of Oz as an allegory to describe the process of becoming accountable, both on an individual level and an organizational level.  

The process involves four primary steps: first to see the problem and the context. This includes eliminating denial about how bad things may be and recognizing both the depth of the problem and the opportunities which may exist. 

The second step is to own it, that is to stop making all the excuses that people make, such as there isn’t enough time, it is not my job, no one has trained me, etc, and to take responsibility for finding a solution. 

The third step is to solve it, that is, to find a solution. This means determining what you can do to solve the problem. It may also include how you can involve others in solving the problem.  

The final step is to do it. Implementing the solution through immediate action is essential to be accountable.  

The book is set against the backdrop of the failures in character and accountability that rang through the news media in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the fall of Enron and other large corporations due to greed and irresponsible conduct. The book first came out in 1994 and was again revised in 2004. Many of the examples in the book of real life accountability successes and failures are therefore from the 1980s and 1990s. The book came out before some of the tragic events after 2004 and another update would be justified.  

Much more important however than the historical context of the book are the real life lessons it provides. The concept of genuine personal accountability and responsibility are talked about a lot these days but may not be practiced much. This book does a splendid job of identifying the ways we avoid accountability, the price we pay for doing so, and most importantly the ways we can become accountable and how this will make us and our organizations far more successful and effective.  

This book is about being effective. It is about being responsible for your own success and abandoning the defeating behaviors that we all are tempted to use to avoid accountability. This is a vitally important book teaching a vitally important lesson. It should be required reading in every family and company in the nation.  

Readability/Writing Quality:    

This book is very readable. It is filled with real life examples from business showing how accountability, or the lack of it, plays such a critical role. While I did not personally find the Wizard of Oz comparisons very helpful for many they may be. The book follows a well organized logic and each chapter builds on the prior ones.  

Notes on Author:    

The authors head up a firm called Partners in Leadership, Inc. which provides training services. They operate in 56 nations around the world. They have also written other books. Roger Connors and Tom Smith wrote Journey to the Emerald City and How Did That Happen? Craig Hickman wrote Creating Excellence and Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader.  

Three Great Ideas You Can Use:  

1. You can react to problems by blaming outside causes or other people. You can come up with all types of excuses for why you should not be accountable for solving the problem. Or, if you want to be effective, you can abandon the excuses and rise above the Line to becoming accountable. Accountable people function above this line, they do not make excuses, they look for solutions. 

2. Making excuses and limiting our accountability are well learned skills for most people. It takes a lot of practice and diligence to move beyond the excuse stage, or the below the Line stage, and begin to focus on finding and implementing solutions. It is often useful to have a friend or associate remind you each time you fall below that line and begin to again make excuses. 

3. The accountability which makes individuals more effective can be applied to teams, groups and entire organizations. The more a group seeks to solve problems rather than lay blame the more effective it will become.  

Publication Information:    

The Oz Principle by Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman 

Rating for this Book: Excellent 

The Oz Principle is the Books2Wealth.com Featured Book for December 2010. 

Disclosure: the author of this book review has no relationship or financial arrangement with the author or the publisher of this book. Some publishers and authors do provide a copy of the book for reviewers to read.

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